Kingdom Hearts: Altered Destiny
by aibou ryou
Summary: *New chapter up!*The door remains closed...the worlds not connected. Sora, Riku, and Kairi leave the island on the raft without Heartless interference, but what will they discover on their journey? R&R!
1. chapt 1: Stormy

A/n: This is just sort of the beginning, and it's what may have happened if "The door hadn't been opened" So no heartless basically. I'm not positive as to where I'm going with that, but really that's no surprise. Ummm let's see…rating/genre could change if I feel like it. Please read and review! If you have an idea, do let me know. And now enough of my babbling and here we go…

The afternoon breeze danced through my hair and played across my cheeks. The scent of saltwater filled the air competing with the laughing of children and daily chit-chat of the other island inhabitants.

I waded into the ocean up to my waist chancing a glance idly at the paupu tree.A glint of silver caught my eye—Riku. Falling into a swim, I made my way around the back to the ladder conveniently kept there.

"Hey Riku!" I gave him a goofy grin and pulled myself up on the paupu tree next to him. "Shouldn't you be getting your stuff for Kairi?"

"I gave her all my things, already." He replied passively, not once turning to look at me. I examined the side of his face closely, deciding that perhaps it may be better to go, leaving him to his thoughts. But just as I was about to slip down into the sand, Riku turned to me.

"What do you expect to find, Sora. Why do you want to leave the island? You were always happy here; there really isn't any reason for you to leave…" 

I was startled to say the least, and the smooth manner, never faltering, scared me. Did he not want me to come with him? Had he changed his mind? Questions raced through my head making it spin like a top.

"I expect to find another world, I guess." I said hoping my pause would go unnoticed. "As for leaving the island, you're right, I never really cared to leave, but that was because I knew no different. You opened my eyes I guess." I looked at the sand. "Besides, what would Destiny Islands be without Riku?" What would I be?

Silence crept over us as we sat there watching the water. Does Riku not want me to come with him then? Is that why he's asking me all this? My questions were only answered with more questions and I struggled to find answers for them all. I shook my head and sighed. He had been acting a little distant lately. Would he try to take the raft and go? No, that's not the Riku I know, the Riku I know—my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my name.

"…Sora?"

"What?" Oh great, that I'm sure looked just wonderful.

"Kairi isn't going to wait forever you know, Sora." I blushed a little and gave a grin. I had forgotten all about her and the supplies. "If she catches you here staring off like that you know she won't be happy."

I nodded and slipped from my perch. "Bye, Riku!" I called over my shoulder with a wave of my hand as I dashed off down the bridge connecting the two islands.

Let's see, one seagull egg, check. Two coconuts, double check. I marked off the items on the list Kairi had given to me till I came to the end of the list. Three mushrooms. I only had two and scouring the island hadn't brought up any new mushrooms. Where on earth could it--.

"Sora! Me and Tidus are going exploring in the 'secret place' later today. You want to come with us, ya?"

The secret place! Of course, that's the only place I hadn't checked. "I doubt it, Wakka, but thanks for the offer. Kairi, Riku, and I are leaving tomorrow on the raft."

"Ah, ya. That's right. Well, how about a duel, ya?"

"I'll have to take that offer up with you a little later. I have to find this last mushroom and all first." Wakka nodded and walked of casually.

I ran off towards the secret place. And jogged down the long trail till it opened up into the room with the drawings we'd made as kids. I smiled glancing around noting the better drawn pictures by Riku and those made by Kairi and myself. That had been years ago…

I retrieved the last elusive mushroom making a mental note to thank Wakka for reminding me of this place. I walked over to Kairi who was conveniently standing near the surf on the raft playing with something in her hands. I was then informed it was a necklace that sailors used to make. A good luck charm I suppose. I then handed over the provisions for her assessment which was an "A OK." 

The rest of the day was mine. I lifted my head to the sky letting the warm sunshine rain down on it. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, yet another perfect day on Destiny Islands. I really don't see the need to leave this place…oh well, at least its tomorrow, not today.

I walked off with not destination in mind letting my feet carry me wherever they willed. Up ladders, through the sand, here and there all so familiar, and yet seemingly new. 

I wonder if we'll ever get to come back here…or whether we'll stay out there forever in some new world? Perhaps we'll meet a knight or Prince Charming like in some of the old fairy tales. Who am I kidding? There's no such thing as princesses or knights in shining armor or the jealous evil witch who captures the princess. I gave an exasperated sigh. But if that was true, then…what about other worlds? 

A headache was beginning to form, probably due to all the questions running and bouncing off the walls of my head. Probably wouldn't be too smart to try to figure this one out… oof! I fell on my back into the sand; the wind knocked out of me.

Regaining some air, I managed a weak "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going…"I opened my eyes to look at the person I bumped into but closed them instantaneously when the sun glared back at me. "Once again, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you like that…I was sort of lost in thought and all…are you alright?"

The person opposite of me laughed, and it didn't take me long to place who it was coming from. I stood and punched my friend playfully in the shoulder."Sora, you are so cute when in the presence of authority. No wonder the adults like you so much" he smirked. I'd get him for that. Before I second guessed myself, I lunged at Riku and he dodged easily. How did he always manage that?

After eating a little sand, I finally managed to turn my run-and-charge attacks into a wrestling match in the sand. Unfortunately, the predictable outcome occurred and I ended up pinned in the sand with Riku atop me. I was completely vulnerable and at my friends' mercy. He just smiled down at me and rubbed it in my face. "Guess the score's 11 to nothing." I gave a face I'm sure looked somewhere between a glare and a pout. 

He got off me and began casually walking away calling playfully over his shoulder: "It's almost sunset, Sora, wouldn't want you mom to be worried or mad at you because you weren't home before the first star came out." I could hear him laughing softly to himself as he left, but it stung more than they realized. Oh well, it just makes me that much more determined to beat him.

I talked that evening on the pier with Kairi before going home. Just when you think you can predict everything about her, she does something unexpected, like saying to take the raft without Riku. The very idea was repulsive. Take his idea, and the raft he worked to make, and when you think about it, he put the most work into that thing…Highwind. Eh, the name would grow on me, I guess…Riku didn't have horrible tastes…

I took my boat back to my small boat to the main island and walked down a few of the streets saying a polite hello to all those that greeted me…What Riku said earlier came to mind…* Sora, you are so cute when in the presence of authority. No wonder the adults like you so much.* The worst part was…he was right.

I walked into my house and followed my routine. Close door, remove shoes, shout a hello to mom, remove jacket and place it on coat rack, proceed through kitchen, give mom a hug, walk down hallway, open door at very end of corridor close door behind me, and flop down on bed. Everything could get so repetitive here….

I layed silently in bed thinking, looking at the boat hanging from the ceiling with two dolls on bored, I stared, but didn't see it. I was lost in thought. 

*I can't wait, once we set sail. It'll be great* Kairi's line rang in my ears followed closely by Riku's * what do you expect to find, Sora. Why do you want to leave the island? You were always happy here; there really isn't any reason for you to leave * Of course there was a reason for me to leave. The only reason I liked this island was because of them, and I want to be with my friends, why did Riku say that…

My mom called my attention from my reflection of the day. "Time for dinner." My mom finished. I subconsciously glanced through my window to catch a flicker of lightning and thunder called just after the zigzag light show. Where had this storm come from? It was perfectly clear earlier…Oh no, the raft!

"Sora?"

Too late. I'd already launched myself out my window and was headed to the dock wearing a spare jacket and shoes that were in my room. I paddled the small boat but it was hard to keep control. The waves crashed against the sides and almost over turned me more than twice. 

I reached the dock and found my friend's boats docked already. I should have expected that, though I hadn't. They cared about the raft too. It was our only escape from this prison. I shook my head halfheartedly; I'm beginning to sound a little too much like Riku now.

Another crack of thunder brought me back to my original motive for coming out here and worrying my mom to death. Lightning lit the island up briefly allowing me to see a flash of purple before it rounded the corner in the distance: Kairi.

"Kairi!" I called her name, but she was too far away and the thunder wouldn't even consider me a competition. I soon rounded the bend after her and stood momentarily paralyzed as I watched Riku straining his muscles trying to bring the raft under his control in the water. 

Perhaps it was mischance, or maybe fate, but the wind picked up blowing out toward the west where Kairi and I had watched the sun go down behind the PaopuIsland. The black storm clouds in the same moment decided to unleash themselves throwing rain at us..

Riku, now waist deep in water, was slowly drifting further out and away from me and our island. A harsh shove from the wind sent me tumbling off my balance and down the sand hill towards my friends and the coast.

Up to her neck in water, I could tell Kairi was doing her best to assist Riku although often getting in his way. Waves were crashing over her head violently sending her beneath the ocean then she'd resurface once again.

For the first time that night, she saw me. She shouted something by the way her lips moved, though I could only make out my name, due to her common use of it. The rest was some unexplainable language. The rain splashed in my eyes distorting my vision of Kairi, Riku, and our raft. 

"Get out of there!" I yelled at them futilly with the wave of my hand, trying uselessly to get them to understand and abandon the raft. They didn't receive the message as Kairi gestured for me to come help.

Waves were embedding my feet in the sand as the water soaked into my shoes and through my socks. Without a thought, I plunged into the water after them. They were getting farther and father from the island.

The PaopuIsland. It was our only Chance, but we'd lose the raft.

"Riku!" I shouted to him though he was beside me now. "Riku, we have to let the raft go. We can climb the ladder out of here onto the PaopuIsland. We can always build another raft." 

He turned his aquamarine eyes from the raft to me; the cold glare with which he fixed me was frightening. He'd never looked at me like that before.

"Ri—"

"Sora." He cut me off with a hint of anger playing in his normally passive voice. "This is our chance to get away from mere." Slowly he let the raft pst on the small island and helped Kairi onto the floating device. "Get on Highwind if you are coming with us, to leave, Sora. Otherwise stay. I know you don't have a reason to leave."

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came. "Riku…" I said it to softly for anyone but my self to hear.

"It's now or never, Sora! Are you afraid of traveling or this storm and it's darkness?"

This resolved my problem quickly; there was no way I'm going to let him get away with that. I climbed on now with his taunting remarks ringing in my ears. I helped Riku up and by coincidence; a riptide carried us further out.

I strained my eyes in the poor lighting as I watched the storm begin to subside and DestinyIslands became a mere speck on the horizon. No turning back now…Bye mom….hope you don't worry too much. I sat staring out our island-home where we had romped around only hours earlier.

a/n: Ok , so what do you think? Horrible? Waste of time? Should I continue or just burn it. Please review and give me the heads up. Thanks.


	2. chapt 1: Stormy part 2

A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing Angel Bliss, Kairi Hikari, and Maxine. I really appreciate it. And I will continue. For you three I've written a little something to each of you at the bottom. ~.^ And sorry this is so short, it's more of like a "part 2" to the first chapter.

            Silent tears began to make their way down the slopes of my cheeks, staining them slightly as they went. I didn't even get to say goodbye…My eyes were burning and sobs racked my body as I fought for control, a mere waste of energy. But what would it matter? No one would see anyway. They were fast asleep. Dreaming peacefully of their new expedition; of what they'd find, or who they'd meet, what the new world would look like. And I was sitting here bawling like a child whose mother had just left them for a night out with the babysitter. 

            How did they do it? Sleep so easily as if nothing were troubling them and everything was just—a hand on my shoulder interrupted my thoughts and abruptly informed me that I was wrong in my assumption that every one was asleep. A gloved hand, which meant it was Riku's. The hand, although comforting, did not put an end to my crying. It slid off my shoulder and moved in soothing circles on my back. The massage reduced my crocodile tears to the hiccups.

            "Are you ok now, Sora?"  It's funny to think that one moment it's a fight for dominance, and then the next, he's trying to make me feel better. We were special, I guess. Despite our rivalry, we still really were friends, and nothing would change that, right? "Tell me what's wrong?" Riku stated more than asked me.

            I hiccupped again then leaned back against Riku's chest, being that he was sitting just behind and to the side of me. "I—I didn't even get to say goodbye…" I hiccupped again, oh how childish I must have sounded I mentally reprimanded myself. I was safe with Riku though, I could tell him anything. "I don't want my mom to worry."  Maybe that made it sound a little more justified.

            I could almost see Riku give a small smile behind me. He was such an unpredictable person usually, but in times like these, it was always the same. I would sit here, in front of him, leaning slightly against his shoulder and chest, and he would smile softly and reassure me. I'd been through enough situations like these to know. An onlooker may have begun to wonder about the two of us. One minute we would be fighting or dueling like the world was at stake, and the next sitting comfortably in each other's company. 

            "Don't worry about it, Sora. She'll know you're ok and what happened when they see we are all missing. Think of it this way, we just got an early start and we are finally off the island. Sora this is what we've wanted since we were little, isn't it to get away from there? To go on a real adventure? And not have to pretend there was some monster in the secret place?" His voice seemed to fade out.

~*~Flashback~*~

            A young brunette boy ran up to an older silver haired one, nagging at him to accompany him to the Secret Place.

            There's a monster in the secret place! He claimed, and so, seeking adventure, the older boy followed the brunette. They approached the hidden area hearing the noises of what may have been the steady breathing in and out of a large creature dominating the concealed region.

            Moving inside, they discovered, much to their disappointment, there was no monster, and it was merely the wind that had been taunting them. Maybe one day we'll have a real adventure, Sora, a younger form of Riku said with disappointment ringing clearly in his voice. But isn't there anything we can do now? The youngest of the pair inquired. 

~*~End Flashback~*~

            Ah, those were the days, before Kairi had even been here; it was just Riku and I. When we would pretend that we were knights off to save a princess or generals in a war to save the world.  I sighed, and I'm sure that must have seemed odd to Riku or anyone else that could have heard, but I didn't care.

            "Yeah, you're right, I don't have to worry, and Mom will be ok." I sat up, no longer using Riku as support, and for the first time, I noticed the storm had stopped, though my clothes were still incredibly drenched with from being in the ocean and the rain water. "Do you think we'll ever get to go back there?" I turned to ask him after a slight pause.

            "It's possible. Try not to worry over it and get some sleep."

            "Yeah…" I trailed off. Sleep, I don't know if I can. My hiccups had deserted me, which would help me drift off to a deep slumber, or so I hoped, anyway.

            I removed my soaked jacket and tossed it aside, it wouldn't do me any good in its current state. I curled up into a ball hoping to retain some warmth. Slowly I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and the steady breathing from Kairi sent me to sleep.

A/N: thanks so much, once again, sorry for it being so short, but I have exams this week, and I kind of wanted to get something up before going this week without doing anything but that. I'll try to update this Friday, but if I can't, we'll shoot for Monday, ok? ~.^

Angel Bliss: Thank you so much for taking the time to review this, and being my first reviewer, that really means a lot. I hope you'll continue to read this and I (obviously) haven't burnt it, so I won't have to find out what would have lied behind that evil grin ~.^

Kairi Hikari: *fears the flaming marshmallow**holds up a graham cracker with chocolate on it in defense, just incase* ~.^  thanks for taking the time to review, and I hope to keep hearing from you!

Maxine: Well, this is soon I presume, but it'll have to due till Friday or Monday. As for a title, if you have any ideas, let me know. I'm kind of at a loss for one. Titles can be one of the hardest parts in writing, well, for me anyway. Thanks for the review ~.^

~*~Sora~*~


	3. chapt 2: Day one

A/N: A special thanks PIcaRDMPC and once again to Maxine and Angel Bliss ^.^ As before there are notes at the bottom to you! And I've not much else to say, so on with the story!

            Falling…unable to stop….cannot get away…I looked up from my plummeting state to see the faces of Riku, Kairi, my parents, and other familiar faces from the island. Riku's hand dangled uselessly over the side of their platform they were on grasping air instead of my hand.

            The air was knocked from my lungs as I hit the ground. I cringed, but when I retrieved the air lost, I rolled onto my side into—someone else?

            Painfully I opened my eyes again, but the sun shined brightly into my eyes forcing them closed again.

            "At least he's awake." A sing-song voice commented. There was a giggle and another voice spoke.

            "So you noticed. Opening your eyes is typically a good sign."

            Kairi and Riku, and…I shifted in the sand beneath me, iDestiny Islands?/i I opened my eyes again, but not before holding up a hand to shield them from the sun. Kairi and Riku stood over me, now blocking the sunlight. I lowered my hand from my face back to the warm sand.

            "Oh! Sora," the girl in the purple skort said, "you're alright! Don't ever do that again, do you understand?"

            "Do…? Do what, Kairi?"

            "You walked out in the middle of that storm last night…don't you remember?"

            I stared blankly at her as she continued.

            "You walked out into the ocean as if you were in a trance…We, Riku and I, tried to get you ashore but you kept going. Sora, you got so far out there, none of use could reach you!

            "We ran back to get Mr. Letavish who runs the ferry, but when we came back, and started searching for you, we couldn't find you in the dark…

            "Early this morning, we all went out looking for you, and luckily you'd washed up on a small rock out in the middle of the ocean a ways off shore. Tidus found you thanks to that necklace of yours. The light was glinting off it just right to attract his attention…"

            iSo that's what happened?/i? I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by Riku.

            "Sora? …Sora! Sora come on, now! SORA!"

            I found myself in the water with our raft close bye. Sputtering, I swam a few strokes back to the floating vessel carrying my friends. I'd swallowed quite a bit of water, and found I had to put more of an effort into getting back. Riku lent me a hand and, carefully as not to over turn the boat, helped me up. 

            I braced myself on hands and knees as coughs racked my body causing water to spill from my lips. Still coughing, I began to wonder whether there was still ocean left beneath the raft that I hadn't swallowed.

            "Sora, are you alright? What happened? Why are you soaking wet?" Kairi, who had been startled awake by Riku, but disoriented for the past few minutes, shot questions at me. I couldn't answer her, for a moment as I  and tried to give an answer.

            "I cleverly—and gracefully—rolled off the raft for an early morning swim." I gave her my trade mark smile.

            Riku burst into a fit of laugher, obviously amused with my poor excuse. "Surely, Sora, you could have come up with," more laughing, "something better than that." Riku laughed hysterically, it had been forever since I had seen him do that, and I felt my blood rush to my face, giving it a red hue. 

            "Well, maybe it wasn't that graceful." 

            "Or clever" Riku supplied and I shot him a glare. What was he trying to do? Nevermind, that's a stupid question, trying to have a one up on me with Kairi. "What really happened, Kairi," he turned on his charm, "Sora, here, was having a nightmare and in his sleep managed to roll around on the raft and finally fell off, and if it had been for yours truly, Sora would have drowned." It was then that I realized Riku was wet too, had he jumped in to save me? But then how was he on the raft and helping me up first?

            "Riku, you--?" I was promptly cut off by my silver haired friend.

            "Well, it sure has been an eventful morning, how about breakfast?" Kairi nodded feverishly and I gave my own nod. Kairi, being the better cook of the three of us, busied herself with readying the food.

            "Riku…" I pulled him to the opposite end of the raft compared to Kairi. Luckily, she was too engrossed in what she was doing to notice, much to my advantage, now I might have a chance in getting Riku to tell me the whole story. "Riku," I began again, "what really happened?"

            "What do you mean? You heard me tell Kairi what happened." He feigned innocence. This frustrated me—greatly.

            "Riku, this morning, I woke up in the ocean, and when I made it back here, to the raft, I discovered you to be wet too. It didn't rain last night, you and I both know you aren't going to get sopping wet just by sitting on the raft. So tell me, what happened?" I managed to keep my cool through this one. Yay! Go me!

            "I see someone has been thinking," he gave me a wink.

            I pouted in response. "Stop avoiding my question, and just answer me."

            My older friend took a deep breath and slowly released it, running a hand through the wet platinum hair, "You were crying, then shouting, and then whining." He began abruptly. "You shouted my name, once, and then terror that possessed you was disturbing." He paused momentarily. "So naturally," Crap, he'd returned to that 'I'm Riku-unable-to-be-touched –and-nothing-affects-me state. "I tried to wake you, and for whatever reason, you latched on to my arm, which turned into a slight struggling match, till we toppled off the side, and you let go of my arm, and started falling to the bottom, and I needed air." He shrugged. "I simply went back to the raft to get a rope in hopes I could pull you back up, and you know the rest from there. 

            He said it so nonchalantly it made me want to puke, How does he does he do that?

            "Come on guys! Breakfast is ready!" Kairi chimed happily. I turned from Riku, feeling my now empty stomach calling for food. Kairi lied on her stomach which may cause some major indigestion later… was the only thing I could think of. On the other hand Riku was lying on his side, and seemed to be the more comfortable position; so naturally, I followed his example and lied on my side. My copying of Riku wasn't unusual, we had the same fighting style due to my copying, we ate (for the most part) the same foods, and odd things such as sitting as he was weren't out of the ordinary, despite our rivalry. Before Kairi came, we were practically joined at the hip, or that's what my mom said anyway.

~*~flashback~*~

            A five-year-old Sora was trailing his 6-year-old friend jumping over some of the missing planks in the bridge in a race with the boy to the tree with a star on it. 

            "Looks at them, the only time I see them apart is when I put Sora to sleep at night." A woman with beautiful brown hair resembling Sora's said to the lady next to her who nodded in agreement.

            "They're joined at the hip almost, aren't they, Sunny?"

            Sora's mom nodded, "Well, let's finish up this laundry, then we can have a cup of coffee and my place…"

~*~end flashback~*~

~*~another flashback~*~

            "Aww, come on, Riku, I don't want to just sit here. It's boring." The little brunette pulled at the taller boy's sleeve.

            "Then why don' you go, and I'll catch up with you later?" replied the other, staring out at the sea still, "I want to stay here a little longer…" The blue eyed child pouted and dropped his hand to his side from Riku's sleeve. 

            "No, I wanna be with you. And if you're staying here, then so am I." Sora plopped back down on the paopu tree stubbornly next to his friend. "I wanna be with you forever, Riku. I'm not leaving." The older boy smiled softly then ruffled the spiky hair of the younger one. 

            "Ok, then. We'll stay here for a little longer, and then we can go back to the main island and duel, ok?" The platinum haired boy looked to his bright who gave him his trademark smile.

            "Alright, but be worried, I'm gonna beat you this time!"

~*~end flashback~*~

            "Sora?"

            "Hmm, what?" I looked up from my plate.

            "Is something wrong? Do you not like my cooking? Are you mad at me--?"

            "Huh? Kairi what are you talking about? Of course I'm not mad at you, I've always liked your cooking, and no, nothing's wrong, but what brought that on?"

            "You haven't even touched your breakfast." I looked down at my pate of food again, and sure enough, the same amount of breakfast was still lingering on my plate as had been originally.

            "Sorry…guess I spaced out a little." I grinned. The food was absolutely delicious, Kairi's amazing, who'd have thought we'd eat well on a raft exploration.

            After a minute amount of talking, and a lot of sitting, and a little more eating of Kairi's cooking, and some more sitting, and a little bit of steering the raft, and more sitting, I decided I'd had enough; a little conversation would do everyone some good.

            "So, Riku…is every day gonna be" I faked a yawn in the middle of the question to portray my boredom, "like this?"

            His aquamarine eyes didn't move from their fixed spot on the horizon while he talked to me.

            "Hopefully not. Depends on what we find." He paused momentarily, "if things continue like this, I guess we'll have to make adventure the old fashion way, otherwise, we'll be exploring" another pause "or something."

            "Uh…how do you 'make adventure?'"

            He turned to me to reveal his sparkling teeth in a large grin. "We'll cross that bridge when the time comes." He shrugged. I pouted giving him my most pitiful face I could conjure up. "Nice try, Sora, but I've been around you too long, those little puppy faces don't work on me. That's not going to get you anywhere."

            "But Riku…" I whined, "How do you 'make adventure?' Come on, tell me!" Riku started laughing and I looked to Kairi for support but she was laughing too, blushing profusely. iWhat were they talking about? Arg, I don't get it. /i

            "Riku!" Kairi protested, leaving me still completely in the dark as to what was going on.

            Riku had the biggest grin on his face I had ever seen before. "I was only joking." He winked at her. 

            "So, Kairi, do you think we'll find something out there tomorrow, still?" I asked, hoping to direct the conversation to one I could understand.

            "I don't know, depends on how far we get tonight, I guess."

            "Then you still think there's something out there?" Riku commented more than asked.

            "Well, I don't think there's any reason why there wouldn't be," Riku nodded, "What do you expect to find then, Riku? Another world still?"

            "Maybe, though if fate decides to toy with me, we may find nothing, or even worse, another island."

            "Well, at least we can say we found something if we find an island." I said, "And we can get off this raft, it's so small."

            That evening, we watched the sky be painted with radiant pinks, oranges, and reds. It was perfect. Three friends on an adventure of their own, enjoying each other's company and nature, an ideal setting for a painting or utopia.

            I sighed and leaned back against the wood of our raft. Maybe tomorrow would bring something more exciting, but it was nice to be out here with them; just the three of us.

            The sun disappeared beneath the water allowing the stars to show of their brilliance to the fullest extent, and the moon to compliment them. We laid on our backs gazing at them like we'd done on Destiny Islands.

            "Their pretty, aren't they?" I said softly, more to myself than anyone else.

            Riku got up almost with an angry air about him. "I don't know, Sora. Do you think we can't see them? Have you ignored our former comments on Destiny Island's?" he almost shouted at me. 

            "What are you talking about?" 

            "You asked if they were pretty, do you think we can't see. Or can you not—are you blind, Sora? I thought you weren't so air headed as to ask a question as dim-witted as that."

            I was stunned and paralyzed to say the least. iHad I said something wrong? I didn't mean to offend him…/i Tears slipped from my eyes rolling down my cheeks. I wasn't strong enough to hold them back. I didn't understand. i Why did Riku blow up like that? It wasn't like him…/i

            "That's right," he continued to batter me, "cry like the baby you are, Sora. You'll never amount to anything more." 

            That stung, especially to hear it from Riku. More tears spilt from my eyes, leaving small dots on the wood of the raft.

            "Sora…" Kairi said from behind Riku, but I shook my head. I didn't want to talk now.

            Silently I slid into my sleeping bag and cried myself to sleep with unheard tears. i What happened? /i I was so confused.

A/N: Ahhh! Please don't kill me!! I'll explain it all in the next chapter I promise, though it may take a little longer for me to get it up, as all this before has been pre-written, and I don't have the rest of it. Sorry I didn't get this up on Friday, I was so busy packing for the beach—which was the best! Even though it was cold. ~.^ Well, what do you think? Review please!!!

Maxine: Nice to hear from you again, I'm glad to see you're still reading ^.^ I'll try to keep updating quickly, but we'll see what happens when I have all the prewritten stuff updated already ~.^ Hopefully it won't slow down too much. This really isn't intended to be a RikuxSora, though I know parts, such as the last update, could be seen that way, and that's almost intended to be so that it could be looked at from either perspective, I suppose. Hope to hear from you soon!

PIcaRDMPC: Thank you so much for the title, it's wonderful! Much better than the other one by…well a lot. ^.^ Thanks for the review! I'll look forward to another review from you again!

Angel Bliss: I'm so happy to see that you reviewed again and hopefully the end won't be bitter…well too bitter anyway, and at the moment, I have all intentions of finishing—unlike most of the other short stories I've played around with. I have the ending planned though, so that's a plus. Hope to hear from you once again! ~.^

RIA: I'll try to put his thoughts in italics, though I'm not sure if I know how, so we'll see. Yeah, general idea and I'm running! J Thank you so much for the review, I really appreciate the feedback! 

~*~Sora~*~


	4. chapt 3: Back together

A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing those of you who did!!! I'm always so happy to see reviews ^.^ as before, I've written something to you at the bottom ~.^ and by the way, would any of you mind telling me what "rnrn" means? I've seen it used a bit in the reviews now, and I don't know what it means! Thanks! I guess I got this written really early, oh well I'll go ahead and post since there's no sense in making you all wait, right? ~.^  and I don't know when I'm going to update again. The more reviews though, the quicker it'll be! 

Disclaimer: Oops, been forgetting to put this up, heh. Well I obviously don't own the characters, and I don't think you all thought I did, and so yeah.

I awoke what seemed to me like hours later, but I knew it had only been a moment. Maybe I hadn't even fallen asleep, but just fallen out awareness temporarily. Kairi and Riku were talking in hushed voices, thinking I was asleep, I suppose; trying not to wake me.

            "You still haven't answered me, Riku." Kairi said harshly.

            "I don't know what you're talking about." Riku calmly said and the shuffling of feet on wood and my many years of being around Riku told me he had faced his back to her.

            "You completely blew up at Sora—for no reason as far as I can see."

            "I have my own reasons."

            "Well then why don't you just tell me what those 'reasons' are."

            "You wouldn't understand, Kairi." He tranquilly said, and then paused as if in thought. "There are things that went on before you were on Destiny Islands; things that happened between Sora and I that you will never know, or understand even if you did know."

            The tone in Kairi's voice changed drastically and she sighed. "You're right, there are a lot of things that I don't know, but I'm not asking to know all that, Riku. I want to know why you got so mad at Sora."

            It was Riku's turn to sigh. "Because," his voice revealed a tone of sadness, "he and I, before you were here, used to look at the stars every night; just the two of us." Riku, judging from the length of his pause, relived one of the many nights we had gone star gazing. "That was our special thing, something only the two of us did, something that was _ours._ It was my time with Sora, alone. As childish as that may seem, it was something that meant a lot. Everyone on that island doesn't see me the way Sora does even now.

"I was an outcast for some time after my mom died. I assumed responsibility for her death, though it wasn't my fault—Sora made me realize this. Before he coaxed me out of my shell, I blocked everyone from me. People may have thought I didn't hear what was said about me, but I did. I know what they thought—and still continued for some time—to think about me. They, too, blamed me for my mother's passing. It wasn't like they had ever cared for me to begin with, and it was only a show put on for my parents.

"Kairi you will never understand what that was like. To feel so unloved. To thin k that no one wanted you. I could have walked down—"

Riku fell silent, obviously amazed that he had told Kairi all of this so quickly and with such emotion that wasn't usually seen from him, and especially with anyone other than me. I was amazed too. 

            "Anyways," back to the normal Riku, I rolled my eyes though they couldn't see it. "This was Sora's and my game."

            "Oh." Was all Kairi said in response. "I'm sorry, Riku, I didn't—"

            "Forget it. We're all friends, and with out you we wouldn't even be on this raft. The sky wasn't made for Sora and me. It was made for us all; You, Sora, and me."

            Kairi giggled "Yeah, all of us." That seemed to be the end of their conversation. Sleeping bags rustled on the bottom of the raft nearby. "But Riku, you need to say something to Sora tomorrow, he doesn't understand either."

            I grinned at this. Riku apologizing? This would be something I would love to have on tape. 

            Steady breathing echoed over the ocean from Riku and Kairi, fast asleep, oblivious to lapping ocean waves against the raft. Stars twinkled above me, shimmering along side the moon, creating the most serene atmosphere I'd ever been in.

            So Riku was jealous? That wasn't like him…perhaps it was just Kairi and I had, before we left, spent more time together than with him. I smiled to myself for figuring this one out. Tomorrow then would be some fun time for Riku and me, then. Well, maybe not tomorrow, but whenever we find land.

            I slipped away into a quiet slumber till I was awoken the next morning. 

            "Sora! Sora, get up!" Kairi shook me awake grinning widely. "There's land coming up! We'll be able to go exploring within the next hour or so!"

            I sat up sleepily slowly processing her words and excitement. Rubbing my eyes first, I gazed out into the ocean in front of us. 

            Rocks were sticking up from the surface of the water and getting more frequent. The sun was already fairly high in sky now; how long had I slept?

            By now, the events from last night came flooding back in a tidal wave of thoughts as Riku called Kairi to his side. An exchange of whispers was all I could make out, no specific words, but it resulted in Kairi eagerly taking the command to steer the raft and Riku coming over next to me.

            "Hey, Sora." He said as if nothing had happened the night before. "You want duel when we get to this new place?" He sat down next to me.

            I frowned at him. I wanted to hear him apologize. *Let me be on top for once, come on Riku!* "What about last night?" I played as if I hadn't heard them talking last night, and I was worried about our friendship.

            Riku gazed beyond me, as if choosing his words carefully.

            "Last night was" he paused, "a mistake." He concluded. 

            "A mistake?" There was no way I was going to let him off with just that, I grinned internally. I was going to get an apology. He figured out what I wanted when his eyes met mine again, he read me like a book.

            "Alright, alright, I shouldn't have just gone off on you like that." He said, I nodded imploring him to go on. He laughed lightly, probably wondering why it was he was being forced to go further. A small stare down took place and he faltered. "And I'm sorry, Sora."

            I smiled brightly, letting him know clearly he was forgive and all would be forgotten quickly, and the momentary look of surprise on his face vanished quickly. I leaned close to his ear and whispered: "I heard you and Kairi last night."

            Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, or maybe it was, we'll never know now…

            "What! You--! You little squirt! You heard all that and made me apologize? Why I ought to—"

            I laughed and tried to wiggle out of my sleeping bag and scurry over to Kairi but was caught short when Riku lunged at me pushing me and himself over the side of Highwind in the process. 

            We came up sputtering and laughing, I was trying to swim away from Riku who, when he caught up with me, promptly dunked my head under the water, laughing. "I'll race you." He indicated with a nod of his head the land that was closer than we had thought. 

            I gave him my trademark grin before calling back to Kairi on the raft. "Me an' Riku are gonna race. See you when you get there!"

            "One!"

            "Two!"

            Without another word, we both dashed off toward the newly discovered land. I swam with all my strength, and some I didn't even know I had, but I barely managed to keep even with Riku. He was a much stronger swimmer, even if I didn't want to admit it. 

            Riku, with a burst of speed in the end, got to the island first and laid down on the sand, and I collapsed next to him. 

            "Good….job," I managed out of breath. 

            "You too, you're getting much better, Sora "He said, with a steadier voice than I had and with a small laugh.  I smiled again; this day seemed to be full of smiles.

            Kairi arrived with the raft not long after we did, giving me just enough time to recover some strength and have that short conversation—if it could be called one—with Riku.

            She giggled as she stepped off onto the sands of our new discovery. "So, how long are we staying here? Is this a new world? When do you think we'll—"

            "Kairi" I laughed "we've only been here as long as you and know as much as you. We don't know all the answers!" I continued to laugh lightheartedly. It was good to laugh after last night, even though Riku and I had made up, it still stung what he had said…but he didn't mean it…right? Of course not I reassured myself; of course he didn't mean it.

            The day passed lazily, from there.  Riku and I dueled and raced some, then helped Kairi look for a few supplies so she could create a "feast of a dinner to celebrate our landing here," as my red headed friend had put it, who knows what she was going to do.

            The fruits and vegetables of this new place were new and odd looking. One of the ones I found by accident was long and orange in the ground…quite the interesting little vegetable if I do say so myself.

            The three of us ventured back to where we had landed leaving Kairi to cook after Riku managed to get a nice fire going. The sky was darkening above us already leaving me to wonder where the day had gotten to, it seemed so…short.

            "Sora! Riku!" we were summoned back to the fire where Kairi had prepared a large dinner for us made with some of the supplies from home and the newly gathered ones. 

            Our fire crackled and the smell of salt water mingled with delicious scents of cooked fish and the other delicacies Kairi had created. It was so relaxing and wonderful. This is what I had really wanted all this time; to be with my friends on our own. I didn't need some evil force or enemy to fight with like I had thought I did back home. This was paradise. 

            I yawned and climbed into my sleeping bag next to the dieing embers. "What are we doing tomorrow?" I mumbled to my companions.

            Kairi giggled and replied: "Tomorrow we can go exploring, right?"

            "Maybe," Riku said, "we can plan to, but those clouds," he nodded off to the distance, "might put a damper on our plans."

            "Rain?" I whined "why does it have to rain! It never rains, why does it have to rain now…"

            My silver haired friend laughed lightly, "Maybe it won't rain because you tell it to, Sora." I clearly heard the smirk in his voice and punched him playfully in the shoulder.

            "Let's get some sleep, guys; it's too late for a wrestling match between the two of you."  Kairi rolled over to face away from me and Riku with a yawn.

            "I'll get you tomorrow then, Sora." Riku whispered into my ear causing me to jump a little then smirk.

            "Not if I have anything to with it." I challenged him back. _I'll get you this time, Riku._

            I drifted off to sleep anticipating the next day; rain or shine.

A/N: Ack, that didn't go exactly as it was supposed to. Oh well, I guess what I want to happen will happen the next day in the next chapter…by the time I realized I hadn't done what I wanted to, I'd already finished writing this chapter! :-P  But anyway, please read and review, and I hope by the end of this chapter, Sora and Riku were back into character… *cries* what have I done? I've completely changed them!! 

**Phantazy** : Is it a riku/sora story? Well, It is and it is not, if that helps. It is all left up to the mind, you can see the way they interact as something more than friendship, or just friendship. It can probably be read either way. It isn't intentionally Riku/Sora, though. If you'd like, maybe in the next chapter or something I could hint at something SoKairi…just tell me what you want, and I'll see what I can do within my general idea of what I'm doing. ~.^

**Maxine**: October!?!? Wow, that is a while…so they've worked things out now and there's nothing to worry about…right? Hmm we'll see ~.^ 

**Dual Keyblade Master**: Well, you'll have to tell me if they are portrayed correctly in the end of this ~.^, as since the beginning of this fic I was thinking I had them completely out of character, but many of you  said I had their characters right down so tell me what you think!!

**RIA**: *laughs nervously* hopefully Riku's back to normal and all now, right? But I love Riku as much as I love Sora, so I wouldn't completely corrupt him, would I? *evil laughter* Thank you so much though for your review, it made me want to start writing more on this which I got around to amazingly enough!

**PIcaRDMPC**: Even if it only took a moment to think up, it's so much better than my old one, and I'm so happy I get to use it! I'm glad you're interested now, though, and I hope I keep hearing from you!!

**Angel Bliss**: Now you know what happens…I think anyway. J  Yes, I definitely hope that this will be the second fic you read that is completed! ~.^


	5. chapt 4: The beginning

A/N: Ok, this is the next chapter, and as before I have notes to those of you who reviewed…Um this is fairly short because I was trying forever to decide if what I originally planned on was what I was going to do or not, but anyway…read on! And please read and **review it means so much! Thanks.**

Disclaimer: I _still_ do not own any of the characters, and don't assume I do, if I did, trust me, I would make it very well known ~.^

"Hey guys!" the cheery red head called to my dueling partner and me from a few feet way. "Come here, you have to see this!" I nodded to her then looked down at my silver haired friend. That's right, I looked _down_ at him.

            "Looks like I win." I stated happily from my post atop Riku with a smirk. I abandoned my victorious position and jogged over to Kairi who was stooping in front of a small bush. "What is it, Kairi?" I asked as I kneeled next to her.

            "Look at this." She moved her hand and revealed to us a couple berries that were a brilliant shade of purple. I took one and rolled it between my thumb and index fingers, careful not to squish it. I replaced it in her hand then gave her a questioning look.

            "Umm…that's great, Kairi." I said, not really understanding what it was exactly she was getting at. It's a new berry…Last night we ate a lot of new things, what was so special that I didn't get enough time to gloat over my victory over Riku? "Why--?"

            Before I could finish my question, Kairi had popped one of the berries into my mouth. Sweet juice gushed through my mouth creating a pleasant sensation too incredible to voice. This berry was like nothing I had ever tasted before. It seemed to radiate strength and rest, rejuvenating my body instantly.

            I could feel my eyes growing large as I continued chewing; savoring the delicate flavor. I looked to Riku who was at my side in the sand and tried to explain the berry. I felt oddly compelled to express the taste and feeling it have me, but no words would come.

            Riku started laughing abruptly claiming something about 'Oh Sora, if only you could see you're face!' I swallowed the small berry and tackled him playfully.

            "Teach you to laugh at me!" I declared happily, wrestling with my best friend, and I had all intentions of winning this battle too. I rolled him on his back but he exploited the momentum to roll me onto mine; pinning me to the ground. I struggled until I managed to get one wrist extracted from Riku's death grip which I batted at his head with, causing him to duck which was the exact reaction I wanted and expected. 

            When the teen ducked, most his weight went forward onto his hand holding my other wrist above my head; using his other to block my attack. I took advantage of this position and unpinned my legs and toppled him onto his back; grinning into his face. 

            He stared at me; I'd never been able to get out of his pin before….never, and this showed evidently in his expression.

            Wow. I'd never been able to do that before. I blinked. I'd tried that strategy a couple times in the past, but it was always a forfeited match once I got locked beneath my aqua eyed friend.

            "Well." I smiled, about to announce my second victory for the hour, but Riku wasn't about to let that happen; which I should have expected.

            He swung his weight to the left sending us splashing into the water for the second time that morning. _Ugh, I'm never going to get dry at this rate_…

            I stood in the ankle deep water; eyes squeezed shut as to not let any more of the stinging water into my eyes. I got into a defensive stance, reading to block Riku's attack. This wrestling match was mine. I wiped the salt water from my eyes, only to find that Riku, as I had originally thought, was not in front of me. I whirled around only to be knocked off my feet from behind, and with a splash fell on my back into the water in mid spin.

            The waves crashed over my body, momentarily burying me in the water, and Riku flopped on top of me.

            "Give up?" He sneered playfully.

            My renewed strength from earlier seemed completely drained now, and I managed a nod; There was no way Riku was going to get me to open my mouth to, primarily admit defeat verbally, and secondly, have saltwater flood through my mouth.

            "Hmm?" He leaned closer to my face with a rather large smile plastered on my face. But Riku wasn't stupid, he didn't lean close enough that I would be able to push him off, or have the coming and going waves splash his face that were constantly pouring over my body .I nodded twice this time. He wasn't seriously going to make me…oh no! "Sora, I can't hear you…what did you say?" He was grinning too widely now.

            The wave receded allowing me air. "Yes, you win! You win! Now let me—"my sentence was cut off as a wave rushed up and covered me again. I lost…to Riku _and_ the wave. It wasn't fair!

            Riku accepted this and released me from my wet prison, laughing at me, then voicing my previous thoughts: "You don't think I'd let you win twice in a row now did you, Sora?" His laughing momentarily interrupted him, "and then let you get away without really admitting defeat? Hah, nice try." He gave me a small wink then continued laughing lightly.

            I stood up and ran my hands through my wet and sandy hair, and pouted. _That really, really isn't fair._ "It wouldn't have been a choice if I didn't let my guard down earlier." I was referring to when he managed to break through my pin, and I think he understood that perfectly.

            Side by side, we walked back to Kairi who had her hands on her hips, waiting for us. I dropped onto the beach away from the malicious waves and at Kairi's feet, awaiting her lecture on how we needed to be more responsible or something or other… 

            "Come on guys," she whined uselessly, "you both need to grow up! We're going exploring tomorrow and there's no way I'm doing all the work. There's still a lot that has to be done. We still need to find some way to carry a few supplies and all on our backs, that way we don't have to come back here every meal to get something to eat—we'll get nowhere…The last think I need is you two bums goofing off!" I laughed. She could only stay angry for so long with me with out succumbing to at least a giggle—but I got a full laugh.

            "Alright, alright…" I said trying to pull myself back together all the while hearing the peaceful laughing of both my friends' voices. _This was bliss; I could ask for nothing more there was nothing left to want….right? Well…no._ I shook my head to clear it and repeated to my self over and over to enforce it _'Friend, friend, friend…just friend…friend…'_

            Kairi and Riku were looking at me now, "are you…alright, Sora?" the redhead asked carefully, her purple eyes looking deeply into my blue ones, daring me to lie to her.

            "Of course I'm ok." I gave her my goofy grin, "Why wouldn't I be?" 

            She remained silent a moment then shrugged. "I don't know." She smiled and began to walk off, calling over her shoulder. "Riku, you and Sora need to get some more of the supplies. She if you can find any of the things I put on that list I gave you earlier, Ok?"  
            My silver haired friend nodded then ruffled my hair, spilling wet sand all over me, and it hit him, but fell to the ground due to his standing beside me. He extended his hand, helping me up from the sandy turf and tugged me along behind, pulling a dripping piece of paper from the pocket of his jeans.

            "Let's see…." Aqua marine eyes flicked over the page silently. "We need…." He dragged out the sentence to gather his thoughts. "Alright," He announced he'd collected them and ordered them. "We need to get some coconuts if we can find some, along with any of the stuff we ate last night, and umm…" he squinted at the smeared words, "uhh…anything else." He grinned, knowing I wouldn't buy that, but I nodded and we walked off into the forest behind us. _This'll be fun, Riku and I together on a mini mission. Yeah, a mini mission, I like the sound of that…Maybe—_

            My thoughts were interrupted as something hit me full in the face, knocking me to the ground, then the world went black…

A/N: Ok, well it's sorta short, but I wanted you guys to know I'm still alive!!! And trying to work, and what I was going to originally do, has been changed now *sigh* oh well, this new plot works… **I need you all to, when you review, tell me if you want this story to (a) stay the same as it is, ie: not really any romance or anything, (b) become Sora/Riku or Riku/Sora (whichever one is supposed to be proper) or (c) become a SoKairi. THIS IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU TELL ME!!!!!!!**

So…to those of you that reviewed…..

Maxine: Ever loyal you are, thank you so much for reviewing again and again! And thanks for the 'rnrn' clue, that was most appreciated. I clicked on the link, but do I have to actually "sign up?" I didn't know if I had to or not, so I didn't, but if you have AIM, IM me on Strlght033 sometime…

Angel Bliss: Oh I do hope you write a story of your own, and I am so honored to think that I could provide perhaps some inspiration for it! Hope you can find a plot and work from there!!!

DarkDragon: Always nice to see a new face! ^.^ I'm glad you like it, and find the personalities to be on target! Thank you so much for the review!

Liliane Evyl: Hello J I think I have your opinion for this vote, but go ahead and just restate it when you review again *wink wink* I'm so happy to hear you like it, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know people are reading this…ok well, maybe not warm and fuzzy, but you know what I mean ~.^

PIcaRDMPC: First of all, of course, thank you for helping me figure out the whole 'rnrn' thing, too. And please tell me where the characters are out of character in the future, because I really want to help get them into 'the way they should be!!!!' So that it is all good J Thank you so much for the review, and I like constructive critism ^.^ Always a good thing.

RIA: No kiss or anything yet, nor do I have anything planned at the moment for that, so we'll see how things turn out, if it so happens to turn out most people want a Riku/Sora thing, I'll write two versions or something, one Riku/Sora for them, and something without the romance or I'll make it SoKairi (whichever you prefer), ok? ^.^  
  


~*~Sora~*~


	6. chapt 5: What hit me

A/N:   1—well, despite all the votes and stuff, I decided to just continue it as I had been. I think it would kind of be weird to change it all of a sudden and all, but if you really want a slash story, e-mail me at analiantha@aol.com and I'll send you the chapters with yaoi or something…

            2—I got what is it, 26 review now? YAY!!! ^.^ Thank you guys so much, as before, notes to you all at the bottom! But on with the story!!

I could make out voices...3 or 4 different ones, I think.  I couldn't understand what exactly was being said, they seemed to be talking in some other language, all the words pooling together.

            Slowly the sounds became clearer, and I was able to conceive there were four voices, talking in a whisper. I kept my eyes close in fear that the strangers might be plotting something…but then a familiar voice spoke like honey, and I knew who it was instantly: Riku.

            I opened my eyes slightly enough to be able to see three figures standing near the side of my bed, and the slope at the foot of my bed told me the other was sitting on it.

            "It's not like we meant to hit 'im" said a sad high pitched voice.

            _Do I move? Should I tell them I'm awake? Should I pretend to be asleep?  I closed my eyes completely now, while I thought. __If Riku's here, then I shouldn't worry…Before I could make a final decision, my grip on reality faltered, allowing darkness to swallow me once more. _

            I awoke with the sun boring into my eyes unmercifully and I sealed them together once again with a grunt. My hair was being tugged at slightly, twirled and twisted around fingers, and then the motion stopped abruptly.

            "Sora?"

            "What?" I muttered, though it came out somewhat muffled as I moved my head into the pillow. My head was pounding and I really didn't feel like talking to Kairi, even if she was only concerned.

            "Sora! You're alright!" She screeched, making my head feel like it was pressed between two bricks.  "I was so worried! You had us both all concerned about you! You were out for hours!"

            "Us?" my voice was too stifled to be understood by Kairi who rolled me away from the blazing light of the sun to face her.

            "What?"

            "Who's 'us'?" I repeated.

            "Riku and myself, Silly."

            I opened my eyes and stared into the violet depths of Kairi's orbs. She was so pretty, beautiful eyes…no, I would not think that way. I would not, I chided myself silently, worsening my headache.

            "Hi, you lazy bum," she giggled. 

            The mattress beneath my feet sank as more weight was added to the bed. "Sora, I thought you were stronger than that…a ball knocking you out? It couldn't have hit you harder than Selphie with her jump rope." Riku laughed. "Certainly not harder than I've hit you." He punched my leg playfully.

            "Ugh, "I groaned. I couldn't take much more of this. A wave of dizziness spread throughout my body, blurring my vision of Riku and Kairi. 

            "Sora?"  My name itself seemed indistinct, barely recognizable, almost as if she were talking underwater. "Sora, can do ear me?" I couldn't understand what she said.

            "Sora!" Riku's face came close to mine, blocking Kairi from sight. I tried to focus my vision, but the effort seemed futile. "Sora, mop go king mound." I cocked my head. What was he talking about?

            Kairi tossed Riku out of the way then yelled something at my older friend. Her cold hands cupped my cheeks, allowing me to come back a little more.

            "Sora, what's wrong?" Her voice was full of concern.

            "I-I don't know. Help me." I didn't know what to say. I felt so helpless and confused. I'd never felt this way before, what was happening--? My vision was like I was running though the tunnel of the secret place, dark around the edges, but not completely blocked off. "Tunnel…" My voice was failing me, and so was my vocabulary.

            With a swift movement, as if on cue, both Riku and Kairi lunged toward me, Riku pulling me into a sitting position with my legs dangling uselessly over the side of the bed, and Kairi forcing my head down between my knees…

            At first, the jerky movements had made the black swirl and begin to close in on me, but began to clear now that I had stopped moving. 

            "Thank you." I managed, barely audible though it was, my friends heard it as if I had sung it.

            "Man, Sora, they must have hit you harder than I thought," Riku said,"That duck must be able to throw pretty hurt."  

            I sat back up, a wave of dizziness coming over me, but passed swiftly. "I don't know what happened," I laughed dryly. "It all happened so quickly…Riku?" I turned to him, "What happened, exactly?"

            He looked at the ground for a moment before telling the tale. "Well, we were going to get the things Kairi had on that list," he began. "As we walked a few feet into the trees, I saw you begin to fall to the ground. I caught you before you hit the ground, but there was a large red mark right between your eyes, and you were unconscious. A foot or so away, a brown almond-shaped ball rested. A lot of screaming and yelling followed as four ducks, one older, and three younger, came running up. 

            "The older duck was muttering something that I couldn't understand, and the younger triplets were yelling at him about losing their ball, which we soon discovered to be what hit you. 

            "Once the older duck realized what happened, he ushered us back to this castle, where I met with the king and his wife the queen, who were quite nice and offered a room for you to stay in, this one being it, obviously. 

            "King Mickey sent for Kairi, who was rushed here immediately, and that's about all." Riku concluded.

            "We've been by your side for the past…" Kairi paused to glance at a clock on the wall. "The past eight hours."

            "Eight hours?!" I exclaimed. "I was out that long?" 

            Riku and Kairi nodded in union. It was already

            "You think it could be the berry?" Riku mused. "You were the only one who ate one, Sora, or maybe it was even an allergic reaction to it or something?"

            "I don't know, maybe." I agreed with his suggestion. The berry had done some odd things to me…giving me all that strength, then being hit square between the eyes I'm sure didn't.

            "Well, if you're up to it, why don't we all go get something to eat?" Kairi said as happily as ever, and we did, without objections.

            We wandered down more than a dozen different corridors and entered at least seven rooms before we finally found the dinning room where we were informed that we were just in time for dinner and were kindly invited to dine with the king and others. Riku spoke for the three of us graciously excepting the invitation, and we were led to a huge table that must have been the size of the school bus that gathered all the children to take them to school in the morning to school. 

            All sorts of different foods were piled on top of the mahogany table, types I recognized, such as fish, and other seafood, but also there was the rare turkey and ham that was eaten on Destiny Islands. There was a large tray of different vegetables, and on another silver platter different fruits lay with a dipping sauce in the middle.  In other pans casseroles and pastas with different exotic sauces resided and in the middle of the large table, muffins, rolls, and other bread products called out to be tasted, adding to the delicious aroma in the room.

            We took our seats at the table; I sat between my two companions. Everything looked so delectable I couldn't wait to eat, and a rumble from the depths of my empty stomach only confirmed my desire to dig in.

            I looked around at all the inhabitants of the castle who had bowed their heads, the exception was the king. I exchanged glances with Riku, then followed suit. Silence poured into the room, and then King Mickey spoke.

            "As we sit here at this table, we give thanks those who have provided us with food to fill our stomach and the peace that has shrouded these lands." 

            _Grace, how could I have forgotten? _

            The food was disappearing from the different platters and onto the plates and from there into the stomach of us all. The food tasted simply splendid and I ate till I couldn't eat anymore.

            We were dismissed from the table, and wandered back to the room I had woken up in with the words of Queen Minnie ringing in our ears. "I'll send up someone to get you when dessert is ready! There'll certainly be plenty!"

            I collapsed back on the bed, to full to move. I had gobbled down what would have been an entire feast on Destiny Islands, or, it seemed that way…

            "So, what are we doing tonight?" 

            "What do you mean, Kairi?" I cocked my head to look at her, sitting in the recliner. 

            "I mean, like, do you think they'll give us each separate rooms?"

            "Well they certainly have enough of them!" I joked, "It took us forever to find the dining room! We must have walked into a 50 different vacant rooms before we got there…"

            "Well, I think one of us should stay with Sora tonight, to keep an eye on him so nothing happens as effect from earlier." Riku cut in, the room falling silent.

            "I'll be alright, I'm not a baby." I half whined half stated angrily. His blue-green eyes shifted from Kairi to me.

            "It's not something you have control over. I'm not saying you have to sleep in a crib, I'm just saying someone should stay in here to make sure nothing happens."

            Kairi nodded in agreement with him. "It's not going to hurt anything, Sora, just let one of us stay in here…It's not that big a deal." I pouted, there was no way one of them was going to stay in here and watch over me like a mom watches over an infant. Why did they have to treat me like I was a child?

            Riku and Kairi agreed between them that it would be better if Riku stayed with me seeing as how he was first of all, a guy, and secondly, he was stronger and would be able to take more control of a situation should something go wrong. 

            We didn't eat dessert that night, but retired early, and Princess Daisy set up a room across the hall for Kairi to sleep in. I narrowed my eyes at Riku.

            "You know, this really isn't fair. I'm old enough to take care of myself."

            "You couldn't have taken care of yourself if you were unconscious," he said coolly.  I tried to protest, but he was right, oh well, a little hurt pride could be taken, I guess…

            "You'll sleep too, won't you?"

            "Yeah, but I'll sleep light enough that if something were to happen I'd wake up."

            "You were always a light sleeper anyway." I mumbled as I crawled beneath the covers of the bed. 

            "Oh and Sora?" I turned to look over at my silver hair, waiting for him to continue. "Stay on your side." He smirked referring to a sleep over we'd had a little less than a year ago for Riku's birthday when I'd awoken on top of him. 

~*~Flashback~*~

            A now fifteen year old Riku climbed into his sleeping bag between Sora and Wakka at the bidding of his mother. "You boys want to be able to get up and have some time in the morning, you'd better go to sleep now." She said before closing the door and walking down stairs.

            "Goodnight Riku, Tidus, and Wakka." A chocolate haired boy sighed from his sleeping bag.

            "Goodnight" chorused the others with other names mentioned after it.

            The next morning, the aquamarine eyed boy awoke finding it rather hard to breathe as if a weight had been laid on his chest. He opened those eyes and stared into a mass of brown spikes, catching him off guard.

            "Get off me, Sora!" he said almost tossing the fourteen year old off him and onto his own sleeping bag.

            "You get off me…" he mumbled in return, not fully aware of the situation before drifting back off to sleep.

~*~ End Flashback~*~

I grinned at him. "I'll try."

A/n: Well, that was longer than the first one, that's always a plus, though I don't know when the next time I'll get another chapter up will be, I'll have to figure out what else I'm going to do.

Maxine: yeah, maybe I'll see you one AIM. Well, I didn't make it riku/sora, but I can try to write something to that effect like I said earlier, just e-mail me…I've never written anything like that though so…be forewarned.

Lily: pretty much the same thing I told Maxine, e-mail me and I'll try to make up something riku/sora. Not really a coconut, nor was it thrown by Riku, but the end was kind of cute maybe? Oh well, maybe not; tell me what you think…

Ann-chan:  Same as what I said to those before you. I don't know why I didn't make this riku/sora, many of you seemed to have wanted that, just drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can cook up…

Angel Bliss: Well I believe things are all good and well for you then! ^.^ it's not yaoi or whatever so…yay I guess! Hope you'll continue reading and reviewing!!

Phantazy: Yup, I'm pretty much with you on that one, thanks so much for your review, it really made the deciding factor on how I wrote this. ~.^

RIA: Well things worked out in your favor, I do believe, yay!! *looks at the clock* well I'm passed my curfew, so I better be off before I get in trouble and can't get on the computer for a month ~.^ Hope to hear from you again! ^.^

Once again, thanks to all those of you that reviewed, I really appreciate it!

~*~Sora~*~


	7. chapt 6: So confused!

            A/N: Ahh! This took _forever_ I had major writers block and now I'm trying something a little different, putting a bit of a spin on what's happened so far, if you will.  Sorry it took so long, but I have a little note to you all as before (that reviewed) at the bottom…

            Disclaimer: I still don't own anything…and I promise you will know if I do ~.^

The noisy clash of fighting rang in my ears and the dirt from the air filled my mouth and lungs.

            "Kid!" a young man clad in brown called desperately, "get out of here! I can't—"he was interrupted by a large ball of fire being hurtled at him from the mouth of a three headed dog. As it turned to follow him, the back claw brushed against my cheek sending a screaming pain into across it.

            The evil black creature pounded after the warrior, each time its paw barely missing the target "Phil!" he called while trying to gain some time by running up the bleachers of the stadium.  "Get him out of here!"

            A small goat or man, I wasn't sure what it was, trotted out of hiding keeping an eye on the man and dog while still trying to watch where he was going.  "Come on, kid, Herc's fighting off the Cerberus, let's get inside…"

            Obediently I chased the little guy, Phil, up the stairs and into the building where he collapsed against the wall. "So…kid…what's your…name?" He asked out of breath.

            "I'm Sora!" I answered proudly, perhaps too proudly, for the goat-guy snorted in response. 

            "Sora, eh? What kind of a name is that? Anyway, Herc just saved your butt out there, and I want an explanation about how you got here."

            "Umm…I really don't know…I don't even know where 'here' is." I said scratching the back of my head.

            "This here's the world famous Coliseum! And we're getting it ready for the games." He drew out the word games when he spoke. "Though that Cerberus might put a damper in that," he added under his breath. "Herc sure has been out there a long time…" The expression on his face was one of pure worry I noted, and 'Herc' had saved me….

            "I'm goin' after him." My mind was made up, the man had saved me and it was my turn to repay the favor. The goat looked at me skeptically.

            "You can't fight a Cerberus; you're not even a hero. Besides, what's a runt like you got to fight with?"

            I pulled out my little wooden sword from Destiny Island with a frown. There was no way I'd be able to fight with this, and Phil agreed with my thoughts in a fit of laughter.

            "You think…you could…fight with that?" He said chuckles breaking up his question, and I felt my cheeks flush.

            "Well, I may not have a sword, but I know what I want, and as long as I have the will to do something, it can be done." I surprised even myself by saying that, nothing I had ever said had come across so strongly.

            "Well kid, I admire your spirit, but there's no way I'm not going to let you go into the arena with a three headed monster with the only thing to defend yourself with being a toy wooden sword."

            The little goat/man revealed a hidden door that led through a hall. On both walls swords, javelins, and other weapons hung, and I think I even saw something that resembled a jump rope, reminding me of Selphie. _Where am I? Where are Riku and Kairi? Am I all alone? How did I get here? My eyes were beginning to water but I refused to let the tears fall._

            "Pick the one you like, kid."

            I glanced over a few of the different weapons and chose a sword with a silver blade  and yellow gold handle that two black stripes that formed a 'X' over the handle. 

            I swung it experimentally finding it had perfect balance and would be easy to wield. 

            "Nice choice, but I'm warnin' ya, it's not gonna be easy out there. Keep an eye on that dog, and don't get in Herc's way. "I nodded then raced past Phil and back into the stadium where I had woken up originally.

            The young man that had first spoken to me when I woke up was trapped between the three headed dog and wall. I could see the panic in his eyes through his yellow glowing aura, which scared me, but with out a second thought, I threw myself at the monster. I managed to get atop its back and jabbed my newly received sword between the shoulder blades of the animal. It emitted a scream that was shattering my thought process and slowly draining my consciousness. Just before the darkness closed over me, I saw the brown clad man run from where he was standing when I found him to retrieve his weapon; then all went black. 

            I opened my eyes and stared into Riku's aquamarine ones. I was lying on the hard floor my legs pinned beneath Riku with my arms held above my head. My platinum haired friend was panting heavily and his shirt was plastered to his body with sweat. _What happened?_

            "What's going on Riku?" I asked, struggling helplessly in my position on the flooring beneath him. 

            "You...were thrashing…and yelling and screaming…then you…" he faltered, "you were sleep walking down the hall, and you had a kitchen knife…"

            My eyes widened. "What do you mean, Riku? I wasn't even here; I was in the Coliseum and this big black dog…" I realized what I was saying and stopped. But it was so real… I felt up to the scratch I had received on my cheek from the monster…it was there! But…if it was a dream…you can't get hurt in dreams though, right?

            A/N: Well, that was short now, wasn't it…oh well, just so you guys don't think I'm dead or something…Well, I may do a short thing in honor of Valentines day, what do you think? And I'll also try to get the next part to this chapter up more quickly. Well, guys you need to make sure to tell me whether or not the characters are in character or not, I always think they aren't, though from former reviews people seem to think they are, so…make sure to let me know, even though this was really, really short, and once again I'll try to get the next part up quicker!!!!

Maxine: Thank you so much for reviewing, I love hearing from you! ^.^  Ending up at Mickey's castle was actually a rather last minute thing, I realized it the night I put it up that I could do something, and well, maybe it'll soon be revealed! ~.^

Liliane: Umm, when I said e-mail me, I meant send me an e-mail saying you want me to write something riku/sora, though I'll forewarn you, I've never even attempted to write something like that…and with things as they are, I don't know if I'll be able to soon… And of course I made Riku stay with him, I know a few of you out there are yaoi fans, and it would only make sense, right? ~.^ You can infer what you want. J

Duel Keyblade Master:  Wonderful to hear from you again, welcome back! I don't know if I can play with that triangle much though, because so far no one knows (myself included) if there are any pairings, or if there are what they are…so…yeah ~.^

RIA: No problem, no slash involved ~.^ I'm glad you think the relationship between the two was worked well, tell me what you think in this part-of-chapter-6 one. ^.^ lol, of course Kingdom Hearts has Disney characters, I mean, what were most of those worlds they were in ;)

Kairi: Hi J Nice to hear from you, thank you for reviewing, though I'm not going to make it Sokairi, you can pretend it is, and I may throw in some more interaction between Sora and Kairi (seeing as how the girl doesn't have a big part right now, heh) later…we'll see. ^.^

Speedysandcrab: Hey! Thanks so much, it really does mean a lot when people review and say they think the story is good. ^.^ I can't wait to hear from you again!

Angel Bliss: Yay! I'm so happy to see you reviewed and will keep doing so!!! Tell me what you think of this chapter, alright! ~.^ 


	8. chapt 6: So confused part 2

A/n: well I would have gotten this up sooner, but I rented Final Fantasy X, a great game! I completely forgot about this and I spent almost all my time playing it! Sorry guys! As usual, notes to those who reviewed are at the bottom!! Otherwise, see what you think of this…It's a bit longer than the last update I think…maybe not, oh well, on with the story!

            Riku put a hand over the one I held to the stinging cut; his fingers grazing over my cheek. I gazed into the depths of my friends eyes thoughtfully, still rather confused as to what was going on.

            "But you can't get hurt in dreams, Riku." I voiced my previous thoughts.

            "I couldn't stop you," he whispered to me as if he hadn't heard what I'd said, almost as if he were in a trance. _What's going on! Riku…what are you talking about?_ "I tried to take the knife from you, but you had a death grip on it…When I was wrestling it," he indicated the gleaming steel in the moonlight with a nod of his head, "away from you, it scratched your face." He dropped his hand from mine and averted his gaze to the floor. _I don't understand.  Riku was so…serious and almost…he sounded like he'd lost a fight or something._

            "I don't understand." I stated bluntly. "What are you talking about, what's going on? First I was killing a possessed three headed dog, and now I'm laying here beneath you and you're saying I was playing with a knife? Ugh, it doesn't—I don't get it!" I shook my head trying to clear it or make sense out of everything.

            "You were dreaming, Sora, don't worry about it." He smirked standing up and ruffling my hair. "I wouldn't want your head to burst because you tried to figure this out."

            He climbed into bed and I followed, drifting of to sleep.

            I yawned waking up and rubbed my eyes, trying to see out into the room with the bright shinning sun smiling into the room. I yawned again, slinging my arm over to Riku's side of the bed absentmindedly. Instead of hitting another body, my arm smacked the mattress and rumpled sheets. I snapped my eyes open.

            "Riku?" I don't know why I was so worried—err surprised I mean…yeah. Riku always was an early riser, and he wasn't ever one to stay in bed long…

            With yet another yawn, that may have had a sigh mixed in, I rolled out of bed, slipped into my suit of red and pulled on my jacket. I trudged across the hall, hoping to find Kairi. _So what happened last night, it was all a dream? But it seemed so…real…Was it all a coincidence? How did I get a knife anyway? I don't carry one around…did I sleepwalk? This doesn't make sense!_ I shook my head to clear it again and knocked then opened Kairi's door. 

            "Hey Kairi…" I looked into the empty room a little disheartened. Where did she go?

            I wandered the endless hallways of the castle inattentively letting my feet take me where they would till I approached the door to the palace. With a bit of difficulty, I heaved the door open and was greeted by a warm breeze. I could see Kairi and Riku competing with a few other creatures in a volleyball match a little way off. I grinned; looks like Riku could be a one man team…well better go cheer them on, not like I have anything better to do.

            I seated myself on a blanket next to Princess Daisy who was watching her husband play against my friends clapping when either team scored a point… I don't think she really understood the game.

            When the group took a break I walked up to Kairi who was drinking from her water bottle. "Hey, great job out there." I smiled at her and her already happy face lit up.

            "Thanks!" her smile faded to a frown, "but Riku's such a ball hog." She gave an imitation of my pout and I laughed.  She's cute when she pouts…

            A whistle cut through the air signaling the break was over and Kairi jogged back over into the sand of the field. 

            Politely I returned to my seat, but my thoughts were elsewhere and the game was lost to me. _Was last night just a dream? How did I get that knife, anyway? But it was so real._ I decided it was just a dream…there was no other explanation for it. I sighed, things just didn't make sense anymore. 

            The game was won with a final score of 21 to 7 in Riku and Kairi's favor. We celebrated the victory over ice cream sundaes provided by the brilliant cooks in the castle. 

            "So Riku." I said falling onto the bed and gazing through the window. "When are we gonna leave here? Or….are we leaving?"

            "I haven't really thought about it. I guess we'll know if the time comes."

            I nodded, though I don't think he saw me because when I sat up he was facing the wall, pulling the yellow top off.

            I returned my gaze to the starlit sky. It was nice…being with my friends on this new island. Who'd have thought we'd actually find something this extravagant? I guess Riku did.

            With these thoughts and a smile I settled beneath the covers of the bed for another night's sleep. I had finally accepted the fact that Riku would be with me during the night and there was nothing I could do change that…especially after last nights incident with that knife.

             I shook my head to clear it and closed my eyes willing sleep to come quickly. Riku slipped neatly into bed next to me and his breathing was light and steady, lulling me into sleep.

            I looked around at the ruins I stood in the middle of. _Where am I? I walked around till I found an exit out of the crumpled city and into a dense jungle. Birds sang and bees buzzed through the air in search of pollen. _

            I continued walking figuring I'd get out of this place eventually right? as long as I keep moving… The scenery was beautiful, plants I had never seen before flourished here and fruits of all types and shapes grew abundantly. 

            I closed my eyes inhaling the new aroma the jungle gave off. 

Ooph!

I opened my eyes slowly and looked up into the eyes of a grey furry animal.

I yelped and tried to back up to run the other direction only to come face to face with an overly large black cat. 

            I reached behind me instinctively for my wooden sword only to have the one that I had chosen the other night appear in my hands.  I smirked. This was going to be no problem.

            "Hey, hey hold on there little britches. There ain't no need to get all violent."

            I blinked, still holding the sword up in defense. "Oh knock it off, Baloo." The black cat shook his head.

            "Where am I?" I demanded. 

            "Well, the jungle of course." Laughed the gray bear I had run into.

            "The Jungle?" I repeated…_but I was with Riku…I must be dreaming…but you don't think you're dreaming in dreams…so does that mean this is real?_

            "That's right, kid" Baloo grinned. "The jungle. The good old jungle."

            "Right…" I lowered my sword. They didn't seem to be the type that would hurt me, and oddly enough, I thought I could trust them. "Alright then," I beamed "where to?"

            Before I knew what was happening, the bear had lifted me up so that I was riding on his shoulders as we took of into the heart of the jungle. _I wonder where we're going? _

            I closed my eyes letting the wind play in my hair. I didn't have any concept of where I was going anyway, so what did it matter if I had my eyes open or not?

            The song of the jungle seemed to fill my ears, the whisper in the wind singing in accordance to the humming of the bees…or maybe it was the other way around? But then I heard another voice singing…
    
            "Wherever I wander, wherever I roam, I couldn't be fonder of my big home!
    
    The bees are buzzin' in the tree to make some honey just for me. When you look under the rocks and plants and take a glance at the fancy ants then maybe try a few? The bare necessities of life will come to you!"
    
                   "They'll come to me!" I said, surprising the bear and his feline friend.
    
                   Baloo chuckled and said "That's right, they'll come to you. Hey, kid, what's your name?"
    
                   "Sora"
    
                   "Well, I'm Baloo and this here" he motioned to the black cat, "is Baggy."
    
                   "Baggy?"
    
                   "Bagheera" he muttered and kept walking. "Did you come from the man village, mancub?"
    
                   "Uhh, I guess you could say that, I came from Destiny Islands."
    
                   The cat seemed to repeat the name over and over in his head as we walked along. "Come on, Baloo, let's get him to the man village before you get to attached to him."
    
                   The bear let out another chuckle. "Hehehe, you're a little late Baggy—"
    
                   He was cut off as an orange and black striped cat pounced out of the bushes and the entire jungle seemed to fall silent. 
    
                   The striped cat laughed maliciously as he walked in a circle around us, eyeing me constantly. "So a mancub has come to play in the jungle?" he scoffed. I slid off Baloo's shoulders and held my gleaming sword ready.
    
                   "Come on, I dare you." I challenged as the cat moved in a circle around me and I followed it by turning in a circle.
    
                   The animal laughed again as he continued to circle me. Sword in hand, I got into a defensive stance. _All those fights and training sessions with Riku are about to pay off._

            Without warning, the tiger lunged at me, claws extended ready for its next meal. I brought my sword down on its paw slicing through the flesh, but as I did so, the cat made a move I never expected, it flipped the sword so that it was just beyond my grasp. The striped animal landed on top of me, his right paw's claws biting down into my shoulder. 

            His left paw, the one I had dug my sword into momentarily, didn't touch me, but blood from it leaked out onto my chest. I gasped as the claws dove deeper into my shoulder.  Pain soared through my body, giving me the realization there was no way this wasn't real. 

            I tried to reach out to my sword, but it was just beyond my fingertips. Baloo and Bagheera came to the rescue though as the black cat launched itself at him attacker and Baloo came over and returned my sword to me.

            Bagheera wasn't fairing very well in the fight and I came to his aid. I plunged my sword down on the tip of his tail. The force that the blow carried elicited a scream from the animal and the impact traveled up the blade and into my hands.  It felt like fire had been unleashed on them, and I spoke my thoughts aloud.

            "Fire," I gasped as the pain screamed in my hands. And as if by magic, a flame appeared on the tail of the cat my blade was still imbedded in. I stared at it wide eyed and removed my weapon, but the flame stayed on the animal. With a screech from the orange and black cat it galloped off howling as it went. 

            Bagheera and Baloo stared at me. "How'd you do that?" 

            "I-I don't know…"

            They turned to look at where the cat had disappeared back into the jungle. 

            "Sora!" I was roughly smashed into the ground on my stomach, hands twisted behind me. _What--?_

A/n: So what do you think? I'm so sorry, Sora is really out of character and well, maybe some of the others too…well, tell me what you think!!!

RIA: like cliffhangers, eh? Well that's sorta a cliffhanger ~.^ hmm the update wasn't that quick, but forgive me please!!!

Silver Angel: well, it's not yaoi now…and at the moment doesn't seem that it will be that way...though it is your decision if you want to read it like it is. What I mean by that is with the interaction between Riku and Sora, sometimes it can be read as yaoi, you know what I mean? 

Phantazy: Well at least your computer works now! A dream or not a dream, we'll find out eventually ~.^ and Sora gets the cool sword thing 'cause you're not in the story ~.^ *hands one to Phantazy* you can have your own now though! ^.^

Angel Bliss: Well you'll have to tell me about the quality of this part! I never did get around to the Valentines day thing…I sort of wrote a little ficlet, but decided it wasn't very good and didn't post it… Umm as for keeping the characters in character, I don't know how well I did with that this time, so…tell me, ok? ~.^

Duel Keyblade Master: Hmm yes, unique…thanks! You seem to know about the characters being in character too, so tell me what you think of it this time..

Lily: lol well, for a yaoi fan like you, I'll try to keep putting it so it can be seen either way easily…^.^ 

Maxine:  Thanks, yeah, walking around with a knife is a little freaky, well, no one's been hurt with it, well, as far as we know ~.^ muhaha Tell me what you think of this chapter! 


	9. chapt 7: The Void

A/n: Well, this is a really short chapter, but I think it just had to end where it did. I'll try and get the next chapter up quickly, but I don't know how fast I'll be… Notes to those who reviewed as usual at the bottom!

_What's going on?_ My eyes snapped open and stared into the dark with a fuzzy surface cushioning my face. I struggled again as I felt the pressure on my back. _There's no way they're taking me alive—_

"Sora." The person atop me growled in frustration under his breath. "When did you get so strong?" I laughed silently, for the first time recognizing my position and the voice. This pin, it was a trademark of Riku's. My voice was muffled into the carpet, but he apparently heard me. I was flipped over instantly.

            "What's going--?"

            "Sora!" his eyes were glowing green, unlike the peaceful aquamarine color I was used to. I'd never admit it to anyone else, but I was scared…very scared. "What do you think you were doing? You could have _killed _someone. You could have killed _me._ You could have killed..." his voice softened a little, his eye color slowly returning to its natural state._ "_Yourself." He finished. My mind went blank. _ I could have killed…someone?_

            I chanced a glance beyond Riku to see Kairi standing in the doorway in her pink nightgown looking worried. And to the right of Riku I could see the Queen, and behind her the King. _Oh no. _I groaned. _This isn't getting any better._

            "Sora…are you alright?" Kairi rushed up to me throwing her arms around my neck. "I was so worried about you are you ok? What happened? Why were you acting like that?" I returned the embrace, very confused.

            I saw Riku shake his head out of the corner of my eye. _Why doesn't anything make sense? _ Kairi was waiting for an answer, but I had none to supply for her. Her arm resting on my shoulder now cast a blaze around the area which shot down my arm. I winced.

            "Oh, Sora! You're hurt!" Before I knew what was happening, she had removed the night shirt I was using and was inspecting the gash on my shoulder; as I had expected, there were five deep marks—claw wounds. 

            Kairi was looking away from me now and I followed her gaze to Riku who had a slight blush on his face. It wasn't noticeable, but I knew after hanging out with him for so long that's what it was.

            "You'll get over it." He told me, nodding towards my shoulder. "There was just no way to keep you still…" I sighed. _So he's saying he did this? Argh!_

            "Sora," King Mickey piped up for the first time. "We need to talk…but get some sleep, ok?" his cheery voice held a strange note of seriousness in it, but the light heartedness still managed to remain. I nodded. Pain was still screaming in my shoulder. "Curagra!" Mickey laughed, clearing the marks on my shoulder completely, relieving the pain.

            I looked at him, then back at my shoulder, and then returned my gaze once again to the mouse, mouth agape. "How did you--?" The king chuckled again.

            "You'll see tomorrow, now, get some sleep." With that, his majesty left the room with his queen trailing him.

            Kairi hugged me again but started crying into my now-healed shoulder. Warm tears splashed against my bare skin and I rubbed her back in soothing circles. "Hey Kairi, it's going to be alright, don't worry about it." I gave her my cheesy smile.

            My friend's violet eyes looked deep into mine as if searching to see if I really believed what I told her. I nodded to reassure her then she stood up, handing me back the red nightshirt she'd taken.

            The shoulder of the shirt was somewhat bloody, but I slipped back into my beloved shirt, one of the few things I had taken from home when we left on the raft.

            Riku stood and held out a hand to me which I accepted gladly. The night's events were still confusing me, but better to dwell on that later. "Sorry." I mumbled under my breath as I passed him to get into the bed from my side. "Didn't mean to hurt anyone..."

            The bed was unusually cold and hard like stone as I climbed under the covers. I heard my silver haired friend sigh and slip in next to me.

            "Riku, what's going on?" I asked quietly as I turned to look at him. He and I both knew I never had slept walked at night, the worst thing I'd done was talk in my sleep. His aquamarine eyes looked at me and searched my face for something unknown.

            "You dreamt something, you're uneasy about being away from home, that's all." He replied as coolly as ever and rolled to face away from me. I accepted this for the time being, and fell asleep. Other questions would just have to wait till morning.

            I followed the long hallway till I could go no farther and a pair of double doors at least five times my height stood before m. Looking closely, I saw as my summoner said there would be; a smaller door my size which opened with ease.

            Inside seemed as long as some of the hallways; it must have been one of the biggest rooms in the castle. A red carpet flowed under my shoes as I walked along. At the end of the rug, a chair sat with a familiar mouse seated in it, waiting patiently for me. The duck that had competed yesterday with others against Kairi and Riku stood beside the king.

            "Great to see ya, Sora!" His majesty greeted me, and I returned the welcome. "Donald, would ya whip us up another chair? You can leave then, too." Donald nodded and with a wave of his magic wand, a chair appeared just in front of King Mickey's. Donald, with a last goodbye, left the way I had come.

            "Take a seat, Sora," the king smiled warmly as I did as I was told.

            "You wanted to see me?" 

            Mickey nodded. "Could ya tell me what happened last night?"

            The scene came flooding back to me and I frowned. "Riku says—"

            "What you think, or from what you'd have thought if you hadn't talked with your friend, Riku."

            "Oh," I paused, "well, I was in this jungle…" I continued to relay what didn't seem so much like a dream now to the king.

            "I see…" His majesty mused as I finished the tale. "And before that you were at the Coliseum?" I nodded.

            "Sora," the king was very serious, "let me show you something." The mouse stood up and I followed suit. He walked behind his chair and revealed on the other side a large keyhole.

            The mouse held his hand out and a large key materialized in his hand. I watched in awe as he pointed the key at the keyhole. It opened. Light bursts from the door that had opened and flowed around our bodies. Mickey stepped through it, beckoning to me to follow.

            "This is a place between all the worlds. Welcome to what I call "The Void.""

A/n: So what'd you think? Please review! That's the only way I'll ever finish this!! Once again thanks to those of you that reviewed, and to any that didn't, shame on you! Help me out and review!!

Dual Keyblade Master: Hmm, yeah, Sora is always out of character, well, I can't seem to figure out what to do with him…was there perhaps an instance in previous chapters that he was fully in character that I could refer to? Or if there was a small scene that you think he would have reacted a little differently to (that wouldn't change how it ended up) could you tell me what should have happened? I'm trying to figure Sora out, but I can't seem to do it. *sigh* You'd think I'd have Sora more in character then all the rest…figures…

Silver Angel: Well, this is a fairly quick update I guess…sorry it's so short, but I'll _try_ to get up the next chapter soon…  

Angel Bliss: Yay! I'm glad to hear from you (as always) and I'm glad to hear you liked it. Tell me what you think of this chapter!

Dark Platypus: Well, it's not really riku/sora, so that makes some happy, but it's also written so it could be (if one is a real yaoi fan) seen that way. But if you don't want to see Riku and Sora's relationship as more than a friendship, that's great ^.^ whatever makes you happy!

Lily: No worries, I won't let anything _too bad happen to Sora, I love him too, so no fear there…FFX is great, though I'm trying to not play _that_ much and still update for you guys…Umm I did get your e-mail, and I'll see what I can do on the side to write like a little yaoi ficlet or something, I've never really written anything like that… Umm, if you have an idea or something that would be somewhere to start…otherwise I'll try to come up with something, but that could take a really, really long time, so I would suggest if you have an idea to give it to me and I'll see if I can write something to that effect…_

Maxine:  Yeah, Jungle Book is pretty cool…I just had to add them in, I was kind of surprised to find that like no one's fics I've read have used the Jungle Book…maybe I just haven't read them all...  Umm, I don't think that was a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter was it? Maybe….I don't know, hehe.  You can make up as many side stories as you like ^.^ and maybe in time, they will all pay off…(and I won't tell you what I mean by that) ~.^ 


	10. chapt 8: What happened next

a/n: Hey, sorry this took so long, there's a note at the bottom, otherwise on with the story!

Colors swirled around me making me dizzy and sick to my stomach. Fading in   
and out burning brightly the colors danced until I had to close my eyes to   
keep my breakfast down.

From out of the abyss, a hand rested on my shoulder, steadying me.

"Look, Sora." The King of this realm commanded me.  
        I opened my eyes, only partly at first to see the colors had disappeared   
from view. Opening my eyes fully, I saw a large sphere. There was a large   
grassland prairie that connected with a jungle landscape that faded into a   
beautiful ocean.  
        I couldn't get my thoughts into any coherence. "What's goin' on?" I finally   
managed. "Where is this place?"  
        "This is the Void, as I told you before. And that," Mickey motioned toward   
the gigantic ball, "That is the world. Our world, it is all connected, and   
anyone who ventures out like you did will find someone else's domain. You on   
the other hand were able to dream yourself to these other places. You've a   
strong heart, Sora."  
        I stared at the planet, and then refocused my gaze on the mouse. "A…strong   
heart?"  
        Mickey laughed. "Yup, I'll explain it a little later. It's getting late,   
you'd better be off to bed."  
        "Huh? We just got in here and it was only just after breakfast when we I   
came to you…"  
        "Time's different in the Void. Come on now!" He said playfully and used the   
hand on my shoulder steer me out back into the palace.

            Sure enough, when we got back to Mickey's domain, the moon had taken the place of the sun and white starts were twinkling in the dark mass of sky.

            "Alright." Riku announced, and changed my gaze from out the window back to him.

            "I don't see why you make such a big deal out of changing." I mumbled as I made my way across the room. "besides I've seen you—"

            "You were six years old!" Riku exclaimed losing his passive exterior momentarily.

            "Then why don't you use the closet or bathroom?" I saw a flash of a 'why didn't I' face before but it vanished quickly.

            "Closet's too dark." He replied indifferently, "and the bathroom is all the way at the other end of the hall, a little inconvenient if you ask me." He smirked before flipping out the lights.

            I crawled beneath the clean sheets of the bed happy that the cleaning people there had taken the time to clean my night shirt as well.

            "Riku?"

            "Yeah?"

            "When are we going to leave this place?"

            Riku laughed lightly elbowing me in the ribs playfully "what's the matter, Sora? You want to go home already? Miss your mom?" he mocked. 

            I pushed Riku back and retorted with a "Well we can't stay here forever."  Unfortunately for Riku, he had been on the very edge of the bed and when I pushed him, he went toppling over the edge dragging the covers with him. 

            "Sora!"

            I grinned and laughed lightly, falling asleep soon after my friend had returned to the bed and the covers had been restored.

            I walked blindly through the darkness, hands in front of me, groping for any object to guide myself. The floor shifted beneath my bare feet like sand as I moved along slowly.            _Am I home? No, I don't hear the ocean. I walked on and on until I didn't think this abyss would ever end. _

            A voice boomed with malicious laughter, the sounds echoing off unknown walls. I looked around in hopes of finding the source, but to no avail. "Ha, you really think that you'll be able to save them? It is too late." It scoffed, "you are too late." The distinctly masculine voice paused as I tried to understand what it was talking about.

            "You understand so little. Everything shall be devoured, and you cannot stop me. Nothing you can do, nothing you can try, nothing will save you or your pathetic little world now. Your very attempt to come here was pure folly. You cannot defeat me!" The voice cackled before fading out and revealing the planet I had seen earlier with King Mickey.

            "What's going on, why don't you tell me who you are?" I yelled, hoping to get some answers but none came. The ground beneath my feet dematerialized as I stepped forward but I remained suspended in the air. 

            It was like swimming—I moved through space kicking my feet to propel me forward toward the planet.

            Heat. Pain. Burning. Electric shock. All these my brain registered. Then when blank as if I was slipping back into that black abyss I had just escaped from.

            I opened my eyes partly to view various shades of yellows, browns, and tans. _Where..? Where am I?  I winced at the pain flaming though my sides as I attempted to sit up. _A…desert?___  Squinting in the bright sunlight, I looked around. Off to my right was a stretch of shadow and to my left was a seemingly closer splotch of darkness on the horizon. _

            With a small sigh, I headed off to my left, trudging through the scorching sands that were burning my feet, mentally noting to wear shoes to bed the next night. 

            After much walking, I arrived at a huge bustling city. My feet were blistering and each step was more painful than the last. _Let's just get this over with, where's the big bad monster person so I can just beat him and wake up?_ Looking around, I couldn't find anything wrong with my new surroundings. A little different than the last times I  had visited new places through sleep. 

            "Uh, excuse me…" I walked up to one of the owners of a small stand on the street who was selling apples and watermelons.

            "Apples! Watermelons! Freshly picked! Best ya ever seen!" The shopkeeper shouted into the busy streets swarming with people/

            "Umm, excuse me, but—"

            What? Oh! How'd you like to buy a nice juicy watermelon? Or a beautifully crisp apple?" He smiled brightly, but I noticed him looking over my attire, which did make me stand out here…

            "Actually, could you just tell me where this is?"

            "Yeah, Agrabah. Where else is there?" The man laughed as his stomach bounced up and down.

            "Agrabah?" I repeated.

            "Yep, hey kid, you feelin' alright?"  I nodded and made my way out back into the sea of people calling a "thanks" over my shoulder.

            Throughout the day, while keeping an eye out for a villain, I collected money carelessly dropped by the moving people in the streets. I managed to collect enough to pay for a tiny room at a small hotel and a meager dinner. 

            Munching on an apple, I began to wonder why I hadn't been woken up yet, and what that voice had meant. "Come on, Riku." I said between bites, "wake me up already."

            Tossing the core into a trashcan, I flopped onto the excuse for a bed. _Oh well, I'll wake up next to Riku any time now, but for now, I might as well sleep here."_

a/n: ack, that wasn't the greatest, and I'm sooo sorry that took so long. I wrote this chapter the first time, then decided I didn't like it and completely took it in this direction. And from there, I've had projects and tests galore and then I was just too lazy to type it, heh. Sorry about that once again. Please read and review. And in effort to get this up sooner, I didn't write notes to each one of you. I will next chapter, mmk? 

Thanks to…. RIA, Ann-chan, Bouncybouncy, Dual Keyblade Master, Angel Bliss, Maxine,  The True Sora, Silver Angel, and Luana Hime. (my reviewers for the previous chapter.) Thanks guys and I'm sorry I didn't get to give notes to you individually, but I thought having the next chapter up might have been better.

~*~Sora~*~


	11. chapt 9: in the beginning, something new

A/n: Well he's the next part guys! Notes to the mere four of you that reviewed for the last chapter…on with the story!

_Clunk! _ I woke up abruptly, trapped by material enveloping my body and restraining my movement. _What's going on?_

My captor was lugging me around and the continuous jolting and bouncing of my containment bag was disorienting, leaving me with no sense of direction. _Where was I going? Who would want something with me?_ Thoughts rushed in and out of my head in a melee so I couldn't keep anything straight. 

            We stopped. I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, my hair being pushed into my eyes by the weight of the fabric. But it didn't matter, only the voices and the newly placed floor beneath me.

            "Ok, I've kept my part of the bargain, now it's his turn," said the first voice.

            "When he told ya ta fetch 'im, I doubt that's wha' he had in mind." 

            "Doesn't matter, he told me to get him, and that's what I did." I could hear the smirk in the first's voice.

            The second voice spoke again: "Well, I 'ope ya didn't get 'im bruised up to bad. Ya could've been a lil nicer…"

            Footsteps walked away with fading voices followed by the sound of a door closing. 

            Slowly, I crept out of the bad and looked around the nicely furnished room. Glancing back at my former containment, I couldn't help but wonder with dry humor where they'd gotten something so large to carry me in.

            I wasn't sure what to do anymore…_Do I wait here? Should I try to get away? What do they want with me of all people?_

            Defeatedly, I sat down on the couch to wait, but what I was waiting for, I didn't know.

            Minutes ticked by until I lost track of time, dozing in and out of sleep. Thoughts of what was being planned and who wanted me occasionally graced my mind. The door opened. 

            My head snapped up. Two figures blocked the door way, the taller one leaning against the door with an almost mocking aura.

            "Riku! Kairi!"" I leapt off the furniture and embraced them with a cheesy grin on my face. "How'd you guys get here?!"

            That was when it hit me, they _were_ here. Riku _wasn't going to wake me up. __Does this mean this is a reality?_

"King Mickey helped us out." Kairi was answering my question, "he showed us this place called the 'Void' and we were able to figure out—well, Mickey was able to figure out where you were more or less…"

            "Then I guess we're stuck," I said with a small laugh, "I was counting on you guys to save me and wake me up." I gave them a wink.  "So was I still asleep then?"

            "No, that's what worried us," Kairi answered again, "You weren't there; you'd just….vanished." Kairi broke into a fit of giggles and hugged me. I really didn't see how that was funny though… "But you're ok now!" A smile that would rival mine graced her face.

            "Let's get out of here." Riku said, straight to the point but it got the job done. So we followed Riku and left the building.

            The dirt streets weren't as busy today as they were yesterday, and lucky for us, Mickey had given Riku something called 'munny' that we could use for dinner and anything else while we were here. 

            "Riku, do we have to keep walking?" Kairi complained, "It's hot and we've been going nonstop ever since we left!"

            "I'm looking for someone; we can't stop till we find him."

            "Uhh, don't you think we'd find this guy quicker if we walked up and down the main roads?" I asked, "there's almost no one on these back streets."

            "Exactly."

            "Huh? What do you mean? I thought we were trying to—"

            "There are too many people on the main roads, and also, he sticks to these back allies as well.

            I nodded my understanding even though he couldn't see me since I was walking behind him with Kairi. 

            "That still doesn't change that my feet hurt." Kairi huffed.

            "Well, stop then," Riku said nonchalantly, "we'll come back for you when we've found him, right Sora?"

            "But—" Kairi protested.

            "That's what you want right…to stop walking?"

            "Riku, we need to stay together," I cut in before the argument continued; "Kairi can't just sit down in an alley, who knows what might happen to her." I half smirked half grinned at Riku, "besides, I wanna rest too."

            My friend finally gave in with a soft sigh. "Five minutes then, that's all."

            "Thank you!" Kairi swung her arms around Riku's neck thanking him over and over again before sitting on a crate resting her head back against the side of a building. Riku followed suit climbing up next to her.  I on the other hand plopped down just off to the side of the road and lay down at my friends' feet.

             My eyelids seemed to be carrying weights and despite my efforts, I fell asleep. 

            I awoke some time later to hear the voices of three people, two of which I placed as Kairi and Riku, but the other was one I'd never heard before.

            "So we aren't supposed to be here?" Riku asked.

            "Not according to what you've told me," the new voice answered.

            "Well," Kairi giggled, "then where are we supposed to be?"

            There was a long pause during which I opened my eyes to see Kairi standing next to Riku, facing a tall man in white pants and a purple vest.

            "You might try," he paused to look around as if to see whether or not someone else might be watching. He locked eyes with Riku and told him something I couldn't hear, and Riku nodded in response. 

            "Well, wouldn't want the palace guards to catch me here with you, so I'll be off." The stranger bounded off after flashing Kairi and winning smile. When he did that something stirred inside me, something I would later to put a name to.   
            "Sora, you're awake!" Kairi smiled happily and walked over. "We found the guy Riku was looking for while you were sleeping, you lazy bum. Come on, get up, we're going somewhere new!" My friend skipped back to Riku then placed her hands on her hips when she realized I hadn't followed. 

            Smiling half heartedly at her, I got up and joined them.

            We headed out into the desert after purchasing a few supplies for our trip, such as food and a pair of sandals for me.

            The sun beat down on us scorching anything and everything. Often time the heat made the landscape blurry, not that it mattered, it was all sand dune after sand dune.  We continued on and on until nothing of Agrabah could be seen anymore. After a good deal of time and a quick lunch, I was really beginning to feel the affects of the sun. It bit and scratched at my skin tingeing it pink. I never thought in a million years of living on an island I'd get sunburn that I thought I was immune to…Oh how wrong I was. 

            The further we walked, the more and more noticeable and frequent blades of grass were becoming. _Were we coming to an oasis? By some stroke of luck? Maybe we can relax then and think of some way to get back home and Riku can tell me what the guy said…_

            Kairi was looking at me expectantly, "Sora, are you listening to me?"

            "Huh? What?" I snapped out of my thoughts.

            "Sora," She whined, "pay attention, don't you think we should stop?"

            I looked at her, then Riku, then back to Kairi. "Umm, maybe we should keep walking Kairi." I displayed a pout face. "It's really hot out right now," I flipped my frown into a smile "we might end up like burnt cookies!"

            Kairi laughed, and I think Riku might have been too. Making my friends laugh makes me happy and it makes them happy to. I can't explain it, but it is probably one of the best things to make someone else happy…

            We walked for another half hour and by then the sand was gone and replaced by springy green grass.

            "Umm, guys?" Kairi started a little blush being visible through her sun burnt face.

            "Yeah?" I mumbled being very tired from the walk and heat. 

            "Are we going to eat?"

            A smirk made its way across Riku's face. 

            "What are you smiling about? I'm hungry too." I said trying to keep my cool but today had been so long and tiring, and when I'm really tired like that, well, I'm irritated really easily…

            "I'm not smiling about anything…" Riku answered, "I just want to know what you're going to eat."  

            "What do you mean?!" Kairi asked with terror filled eyes 

            "Well at lunch we ate everything." He spoke simply as if it didn't affect him in the least…that's what bothered me. 

            "Oh." Kairi's response was equally devoid of emotion. 

            "Well…" I tried to protest further but found no argument to make. 

            "Don't worry," Riku's smirk doubled in size; growing to an unhealthy egotistical level. "I'll take care of you guys." I know he added that just to poke at me… "According to the map, there's a town just over that hill."

            I gave an exasperated sigh. Riku would always have something over me…I could never win. _But I will win one day, one day Riku…_

            Kairi punched Riku in the shoulder. "Riku that wasn't funny!" Riku managed in between laughs to say:

            "You should've…you should've seen…seen your faces!" Riku was laughing but Kairi continued to scowl at him. 

            We entered a nice looking town, the streets not as busy as the ones before in Agrabah.  It was nice, we walked through the streets, and it would have been romantic if it were just the two of us…

            The sun was coloring the sky beautiful colors as we sat down to a spaghetti dinner at a nice restaurant. The cooks serenaded us on the accordion and sang. It really was nice…

            The full moon accented my friends' faces in the most beautiful ways I'd ever seen. The silver sheen reflected in Kairi's eyes and created a little halo over Riku's silvery hair.

            "Hey Sora?" I looked up from my plate, surprised the silence of our dinner had been interrupted. "Can I talk to you?" 

            "Sure go ahead."

            My friend looked at my plate then back at me. "Alone?"

            "Oh, yeah sure."

            Together we walked off into the park. Water splashed from the fountain and there didn't seem to be anything besides the two if us.

A/N: Ok! Well who's Sora with? Is it Kairi or Riku?! Hmm you'll have to wait to decide. From here it's going to split and you can choose whether you want the story to be sora/kairi or riku/sora. Depending on the one you want, it'll be titled Altered Destiny: Riku or Altered Destiny: Kairi.  Mmmk. Well, it may take a while to get the next part up. Things seem to be crumbling like cookies around here, so I need to get life together first. Alrighty! 

Sakurako Yume: Well I'm glad you like it! Hopefully you'll continue reading with either one (or both) of the split endings.

Lu-chan: Well, this split directions deal that should please you. Now you can have the Riku/Sora, yay! Word of warning though, I've never written anything like that…so don't hold too high of expectations, ok? ~.^

Maxine: Hey! I'm glad you like it. I think didn't you want it to be riku/sora too? Well you can _really_ read it that way now! ^.^ Ok well see you in the next part!

Dual Keyblade Master: Sorry about King Mickey, I knew I wasn't doing him right, I just couldn't remember exactly how he acted. I've read so many fan fics where he's all serious and all…Ok; well tell me what you think of them in this part. Sora may have been a little more angsty or something than I intended. I wasn't feeling the best when I wrote it. Ok well see you next time!


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